The Conservation of the Luan Shu

The Conservation of the "Luan Shu"

 

Pertaining to the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of History, a "Luan Shu" dated 1948 is a kind of betrothal document recording the details of traditional customs and rituals in related to marriage in China.  The inner pages of the document have deteriorated and become weak and fragile. Cracks and creases were prevalent, which made it literally impossible to flick over the pages.  

 

Before the start of conservation treatment, we conducted an analysis on the document and confirmed that the pages were made of bamboo fibre with a high lignin content.  The pages had lower resilience after deterioration and subsequently a higher tendency to break.  

 

To investigate the composition of the red dye used, we extracted the red dye with methanol and analysed it by liquid chromatography mass spectrometer.  Results showed that it was a salt based red dye named Rhodamine, a common and inexpensive dye widely used in the early 20th century. 

 

Since the red dye on the document feather seriously when in contact with water, we moistened the paper document by ultrasonic mist without letting water drops to stay on the pages to avoid the possibility of unnecessary feathering.  When the fibres became completely relaxed after humidification, we used long fibre paper with heat activated adhesive to restore the tears and the damaged parts.   

 

After conservation, the Luan Shu could be laid wide open and its contents can be read.